Demon at the Door
by Rosethorn Li
Summary: Crossover with Naruto; AU; The Tendo family has always been able to see spirits. When Kasumi's mother dies of sickness, her familiar, Kyuubi, is passed to her daughter, Kasumi. Too bad the poor girl was not informed. And Kyuubi takes advantage.
1. Demon at the Door

**Demon at the Door  
**Kyuubi, meet Kasumi.**  
By: Rosethorn Li**

Prompt: Kyuubi/Kasumi: _don't cry now babydoll / nothing too good ever lasted long  
_Summary: Kasumi can see what others cannot, just like her mother. Days after mama Tendo's death Kyuubi comes to keep a bargain. He is not impressed with what he finds.

* * *

A large and frightful beast towered over her.

"How do you exist?" she cried, panic clear in her voice. Shivering from head to toe, unable to stop, tears in her eyes, she stood her ground despite the overwhelming urge to flee. "You cannot be!"

"**How can you deny what your eyes behold?**"the demon growled more than spoke in a deep, thunderous voice, tails flicking in amusement. This cowering girl and her fear, they fed him, made his ego fat and healthy. Pathetic, sniveling thing, calling herself a Visionary. Nothing like the gleaming Light of her mother, with only a flicker of power.

This night be comes to see the girl, to make good on his bargain; a mystic fox may break a promise, but not a binding of words or contracted services.

"B-but mother's wards!"

"**Your mother has passed to Kami-sama's realm**." A waste, to end such a life, but the Fates had their plans. Unfortunate that his was tied with hers so deeply.

A weak protest of, "I-I backed them, you are not…" Her resolve is breaking. Pathetic. He should devour this insignificant soul.

Barings his fangs, he states, "**Feeble is your power, girl. Mighty is my strength.**"

"A-ah…" Her voice fails and she slumps into her futon, fists clenched in the blankets, sobbing fruitless tears. Annoying sounds.

"**Quiet!**" he roared, startling the girl. The small, gasping sounds of terror she made were even worse.

For no reason should he bow so lowly a creature as this! To his own ends he shall use her.

"**Listen well, mortal. My power shatters mountains, upsets the seas, kindles the fires of the earth to destruction. Shall you defy me?**" Eyes, uncomprehending, stare blankly. He peered at her with a bloodshot eyes as large as her head, snarling, "**Do you understand?**"

A mute nod.

He bares his fangs like a grin and presses, voice half a purr, "**What is it you say?**"

"Y-yes?"

"**Repeat: yes, Kyuubi-sama." **The demon growls it slowly, muzzle inches from her neck. She can feel his breath through her yukata, and flinches, unable to bear it.

His growl is low at her silence.

"Yes, Kyuubi-sama!" It is a near hysterical shout, and he backs away, much to her relief. He's laughing.

The little figure in the futon beside her stirs at this. The blankets wiggle and a head pops out.

"Onee-san? Whus the matter?" Akane blinked up at her blearily, rubbing an eye with her tiny hand. They shared a room, she and her sisters, unable to sleep alone.

Kasumi gave a shaky smile and, with the shadow of a fox falling over her, said, "Nothing, sweetie. Go back to sleep."


	2. Caged

**Caged  
**Kyuubi was not always strong.  
**By: Rosethorn Li**

* * *

_  
There is light, tinted red; the scent of polished wood. A tight space he is wedged in, unable to move._

Caged.

He snaps at the bars, banging fangs against hard metal. A sharp pain and he yelps.

Powerless.

A mistake; tiny, tiny two-tails, goaded by the others. At the whims of the humans now, a fate worse than death.

Footsteps.

His fur bristles and he hisses, baring fangs, eyes blind to this unworthy world. New scents: stinking, unwashed human; dried blood; the tanned skins of his fellows stripped of fur; forged steal stolen from the earth. The echo of human power in chains that force his muzzle closed, leather clad hands rough on his fur.

Two flesh-bags: a small one with no aura; a big one, large in power.

A conversation half understood.

Scents of nervousness and fear from an inferior male, handling him from the cage. "…creature …captured…"

Something-like-rage, amusement from the larger, the fear inducer; the alpha. "…prize."

Red eyes.

A name.

"Uchiha-sama."

**Master**.  


Kasumi wakes gasping, heart pounding, blind in the dark. There is a scream of fear on the tip of her tongue, but she bites her lips and shivers at the warm breath on her neck. Barred fangs and a rumbling growl shake the girl to the core. She apologizes with a whimper and the growl subsides with only a warning scrape of teeth at her nape.

Akane shifts beside her, mumbling mother's name. A pleasant dream.

Kasumi doesn't remember what it's like.


	3. Progression

**Progression  
**You get what you ask for, some times.  
(talking to you guys over there. yeah, you. not longer, but it's moving forward! :P)  
By: Rosethorn Li

* * *

Kasumi dreams in colors, some bright, some faded. Of trees whose leaves unfurl in startling greens and flowers that singing rainbows.

_But--_

There is a red tint to the world, orange at the edges and yellow in her grey-blue sky.

Purposefully, she does not notice, and walks through the garden of her mind in comfort.

She is safe in dreams…  
_for a time_.

Until the earth quakes beneath her feet, and the sea rises up to crush against the shore.

Then, Kyuubi comes,  
_and the nightmares begin_.

* * *

Through the haze of his grief, Soun watches his daughters.

Nabiki sits and stares out at the garden, at some distant point beyond the wall. With Kasumi's help, she eats, unresponsive to the call of her voice, or any words at all.

Akane follows Kasumi like a chick, clinging to her skirts, pleading for attention. She helps. She crieds. She wants her mother.

_So do they all_.

When he looks at Kasumi, he sees the hole that has been torn I nteh fabric of their family. A reminder of what they have lost.

In time, he will feel pride in this, that she stepped in to do what was needed.

Until then, he cries, and does not notice the fox tails behind her.

* * *

["_There are many families of Spiritualists in the capital. The best known are the Uchiha, for they serve the Emperor alone._

_We, the Tendo, of whom you were born, serve the people. Their ills are ours, their joys are ours, and to them we are the answer._

_Listen well, child: you have the Power. You can see the spirits, yes, but you can _feel_ them too, in your heart and mind. Just like your mother._

_Stand tall, child, don't slouch!_

_Remember: you are Tendo Kasumi, and you will be strong!_"]

* * *

These words were not a dream, but a memory. _Grandmother_, she thought,_ would know what to do._

After the meal that morning, Kasumi addressed her father. "Honorable father, the city air has become as baleful as miasma to this one. Would not a trip to the outer boundaries relieve this plight?"

Her father answered in kind. "Beloved daughter, I feared this would be so. My children must have respite from these troubling waters."

They left the next day, packed away in a carriage guarded by their father's most trusted men.

Kasumi had not the chance to plead with him to join them, or express concern for leaving her mother's protections. The nine-tailed spirit was growing stronger, a constant weight on her mind.

She hope the journey would be made quickly, before his whispered promises became orders again, and that this time she would not have the will to disobey.

* * *

**Word Count**_: 449_


End file.
